Definition: Fertility

From New World Encyclopedia

Etymology

From Middle French fertilité, from Latin fertilitas.

Noun

fertility (countable and uncountable, plural fertilities)

  1. (uncountable) The condition, or the degree, of being fertile, whether in the sense of fertile ground that is able to grow crops well, or in the sense of an animal's ability to reproduce.
    The fertility of the soil isn't very good around here.
  2. (countable) The birthrate of a population; the number of live births per 1000 people per year.
  3. The average number of births per woman within a population.

Derived terms

  • fertility clinic
  • fertility drug
  • oncofertility
  • soil fertility

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